Six And More…Or Fewer
Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California. Relay swims across channels are great ways to be introduced to the challenge and excitement of channel swimming.
The Catalina Channel Swimming Federation, Kaiwi Channel Association, Maui Channel Swim, and the Trans Tahoe Relay are among the major open water swims that require six members – no more and no fewer – on their relay teams.
But there are differences across the globe.
While the Strait of Gibraltar permits no more than 4 members on its relay crossings, the Channel Swimming Federation (English Channel), Channel Swimming & Piloting Federation (English Channel), Tsugaru Channel Swimming Association (Tsugaru Channel in Japan), Rottnest Channel Swim (Rottnest Channel in Australia), NYC Swim (Manhattan Island Marathon Swim), Irish Long Distance Swimming Association (North Channel), and the International Self-Transcendence Marathon-Schwimmen (Lake Zurich) allow different configurations, rules, duration of individual legs, and the numbers of swimmers for its relays.
Photo above shows the relay teams of the 2013 Ka’iwi Channel Swim is courtesy of Kaia Hedlund on Sandy Beach, Oahu. The swimmers include The Veterans (Karen Schmidt, Amy Dantzler, Brent Blackman, Bill Ireland, Bruce Thomas, and Dianne Gleason) and The Youngsters (Terence Young, Brian King, Mitchell Degeus, Jamison Grove, Brittney Yim, and Erin Yamamoto).
Copyright © 2014 by World Open Water Swimming Association
Southern California native, born 1962, is the creator of the WOWSA Awards, Oceans Seven, Openwaterpedia, Citrus Corps, World Open Water Swimming Association, Daily News of Open Water Swimming, Global Open Water Swimming Conference. He is Chief Executive Officer of KAATSU Global and KAATSU Research Institute. Inductee in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame (Honor Swimmer, Class of 2001) and Ice Swimming Hall of Fame (Honor Contributor - Media, Class of 2019), recipient of the International Swimming Hall of Fame's Poseidon Award (2016), International Swimming Hall of Fame's Irving Davids-Captain Roger Wheeler Memorial Award (2010), USA Swimming's Glen S. Hummer Award (2007, 2010) and Harvard University's John B. Imrie Award (1984). Served on the FINA Technical Open Water Swimming Committee and as Technical Delegate with the 2011 Special Olympics World Summer Games, and 9-time USA Swimming coaching staff. Note: WOWSA only recommends products or services used or recommended by the community. WOWSA does not receive compensation for links or products mentioned on this site or in blog posts. If it does, it will be indicated clearly on that specific post. See WOWSA's privacy policy for more information.
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